


The Good Night

by sanbika



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cuban Christmas traditions, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Langst, M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), Season 4 Continuation, Soulmarks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-05-06 02:18:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14632032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanbika/pseuds/sanbika
Summary: Keith had passed enough time with the Blade that he felt distinctly awkward wandering the halls of the Castleship. He kept pausing as he assessed the creaks and rattles trying to figure out if he had found his target, hoping he didn’t look too creepy as he stood in the shadows in his Marmora uniform and mask.You’re not creeping, you’re looking for something, he thought grumpily.Not something… he thought in a snarky, familiar voice. Keith gritted his teeth and kept walking.





	The Good Night

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas [why-this10](https://why-this10.tumblr.com) [klance2017secretsanta](https://klance2017secretsanta.tumblr.com)!!! I had fun thinking up ways to meet your wishlist and put a fun Christmassy twist on it. In this universe, people have a naturally occurring tattoo that matches their soulmate and gives them some clue via a picture or text who it is. When you find your soulmate the marks become permanent and more intricate and colored in. But in this universe soul marks can fade over time, meaning the chances of finding your soulmate have gotten lower due to distance, death, missed opportunities, or mysterious circumstances. If your mark fades completely the odds of finding your soulmate are pretty low. Enjoy!

Keith had passed enough time with the Blade that he felt distinctly awkward wandering the halls of the Castleship. He kept pausing as he assessed the creaks and rattles trying to figure out if he had found his target, hoping he didn’t look too creepy as he stood in the shadows in his Marmora uniform and mask.

You’re not creeping, you’re looking for something, he thought grumpily.

Not something… he thought in a snarky, familiar voice. Keith gritted his teeth and kept walking.

It would have been more awkward to admit that he was looking for someone. Or you could’ve just asked where Lance was at the beginning of the meeting, like any other person would’ve.

Lance being absent was strange and hadn’t been explained. If he had been injured Keith would’ve heard about it… right?

A nervous thrill shot through him as he crept along. He kept picturing Lance, trembling and bruised and voice weak as he clutched his hand ages ago. Maybe they won’t tell you what’s going on. Maybe that’s what happens when you resign from Voltron. You don’t need to know these things anymore.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he almost didn’t catch the squeak behind him and whirled around suddenly, hand reaching for his sword as he met Pidge’s thoroughly unimpressed gaze.

“Gee, I wonder who you could possibly be looking for?” She said in a deadpan tone, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall.

Keith flushed before dissolving the faceplate of his Marmora helmet. “Why would you think that?” He said lamely, attempting a neutral expression.

Pidge’s lip curled up as she took him in and he knew she didn’t buy it. She groaned dragging her hand down her face. "Look, I’ll take pity on you but if I tell you where Lance is, you need to promise not to bother him.”

Keith bit his lip trying to fight off the concern that was wrinkling his face. He managed to offer a tight smile and hoped Pidge would believe it.

She had cast her gaze at the floor looking oddly somber. "Lance went on leave, kind of, he’ll be back later tonight if you wanted to wait up for him. That is if your team will let-”

“Leave? What for?” Keith would normally wait to learn more but it felt like he couldn’t control his mouth or his body as he rushed forward.

She peeked up from under her bangs and he couldn’t catch his breath. She looked so sad. “Look Shiro asked us to be discreet but I still think you’re part of the team and if anyone knows it should be you.”

Pidge straightened and Keith was surprised to see she’d grown a few inches since he’d left with the Blade.

Did you think time would just stand still after you left?

“Lance is on leave because of his soul mark… it started to fade-”

Keith was sprinting away before she could finish her sentence.

That didn’t stop her from shouting down the hall. “Dammit Keith, he just wants some space!!”

He jogged to the hangers and tried to find the little spark in his chest that he’d felt when he first connected with Red.

————

Keith was standing in front of Red watching Lance’s prone form draped over her paw. The other paladin hadn’t moved and clearly had no idea that he wasn’t alone.

All right maybe this is a little creepy.

Keith was big enough to admit that spying on a friend unawares on a uninhabitable moon might be considered extreme.

But even though Blade craft were designed to be nearly undetectable, Lance’s situational awareness was piss poor. He was doing him a favor.

Whatever helps you sleep at night Kogane.

He decided to break the silence by scaring the daylights out of the paladin.

“Hey cargo pilot!”

It was so satisfying to hear an ear-splitting shriek.

"Are you going to sit there moping or put your big boy pants on and deal with your problems?”

Lance sat up with a disgruntled expression, blue eyes cold. Even so Keith’s heart started to race.

"I’ll have you know sitting here with Red questioning my destiny is cathartic and not moping,” the paladin sniped as he jumped down and landed hard on his rear.

He muttered a low curse and sheepishly turned his head up to Keith. “I must’ve been gone a long time if they sent you after me. I’ll go back! I just needed a moment.”

Keith smiled before realizing all Lance could see was the cold Marmora mask.

“Pidge told me what was going on and I wanted to see how you’re doing. Let’s take this conversation inside Red so I can see the damage.”

Lance groaned, “Of course she did.” He made a big show of getting up and rubbing his back but Keith had caught the genuine sadness in his eyes.

Red lowered her jaw suddenly and her eyes flashed in approval. Keith knew she was missing him but there wasn’t much to do about it so he’d shuffled the guilt he’d been carrying to the back of his mind.

“You like that Red? It’s good to see you, girl. Has Lance been taking care of you?”

Red thrummed with delight as the two walked up.

——–

Keith was growing antsy, almost wishing he had his mask on to hide his nerves.

He’d never really relied on his soul mark. His dad hadn’t had one so when he got one he just shrugged it off. He didn’t like the idea of some unknown force telling him his fate.

And since his mark was on the back of his neck, out of sight and out of mind, he could just move through life by instinct without the weight of it influencing his decisions.

But here he stood trying to comfort someone he cared for about something he didn’t even believe in.

And he was failing pretty badly.

He and Lance had played catch-up and had talked about literally every angle of all of the intel the Blade and Voltron had.

What they hadn’t done was talk about Lance’s soul mark fading or why Keith of all people had shown up out of the blue.

He knew he was blowing it. They’d been there a while at this point and had fallen into an uneasy silence.

But he could tell Lance was freaking out. His gaze was stony even as he fake laughed and his shoulders were tight and high.

He turned to Lance and met his gaze straight on. He couldn’t really get enough of those cornflower blue eyes. But he ignored them and held out a hand.

“Show me your mark.”

Keith grimaced at his own stupidity.

Soul marks were generally a private matter. They weren’t usually shown unless to a family member. They had some special meaning or clue to help you figure out your soulmate but it was essentially like asking someone to take off their clothes.

Lance was stunned, mouth open and eyes the size of dinner plates. He gaped and kept trying to say something but gave up the attempt before shaking his head and taking off his helmet and upper body armor.

His voice squeaked before evening out.

“I mean, it’s not that big of a deal, I’ve heard of others who found their soulmates even after they lost their mark. It’s not unheard of…”

Keith interrupted with an eye roll.

“Yeah but for a big softie like you it is a big deal. You’re a romantic and you always have been.”

Keith had hoped to prod Lance into a better mood by playing around but instead the younger man seemed to deflate.

He started to unzip the back of his black suit and Keith’s pulse jumped. He turned away to hide his blush. “Uh it isn’t in like… a private area, is it?”

Finally Lance sneered at him with an annoyed glare. “Even if it was you were the one who asked to see it mullet. It’s on the back of my arm is all.”

Keith coughed feeling nervous and excited all at once.

Lance managed to roll the Altean fabric down and turned the inside of his bicep sheepishly outwards.

Two fairly large numerals, 24, in black ink curved perpendicular to his inner arm, dark lines stark against his golden skin.

Inside the numbers was a dark starscape with a nebula just like the one they had flown past to get to this moon. The lines looked faint around the edges, just as marks looked before disappearing.

It was beautiful still. Keith could barely speak, his heart was pounding so loudly.

Lance looked at the floor. “I mean this is everything you need to know about me. I always wanted to do something amazing, even as a dumb kid, but when this showed up on my 12th birthday I knew I had to go to space, I knew I’d find my soulmate there. So I worked really hard. And I made it here and now it’s fading so apparently,” his voice shook a little, “I did something wrong.”

Keith put his hand on the back of his neck, forcing himself to focus. His nerves were shot after seeing the mark.

“What does 24 mean? Is that the age you’re supposed to meet them? Is that their age?”

Lance sighed rubbing at his mark dejectedly.

“That’s what my sisters said. My mom. But I knew it was for Nochebuena, December 24.” At Keith’s questioning look Lance just sad, “Yes that’s today.”

"But growing up, that day is my family’s Christmas. It’s my favorite day. There’s like a hundred people at the house. My dad and Abuelo and his brothers roast an entire pig all day. My Mom and aunties and Abuela and us kids we just make dessert and food and eat. Then we played games and took pictures. We went to Mass at midnight and if you wanted your presents you had to stay awake until then. It’s a great day.”

He grew quiet for a minute, his face solemn and still. He looked as if he was wrestling with something.

Keith was scared he’d start crying and hovered his hand behind Lance’s back.

“I was so happy to see that number because it meant that my soulmate was someone who would… get me and my family. Someone who would join in those memories. And it meant my family would be a part of my future. I didn’t think I’d have to give it up to be a part of Voltron, that I would have to give up my future to save the universe.”

Lance’s voice broke with the strain of holding back tears. His fingers were shaking as he traced the fading edges.

Keith let out a sudden breath that sounded like a chuckle only to be met with Lance’s red-rimmed stare.

“Are you seriously laughing at me mullet as I’m pouring my heart out to you?”

Keith shook his head trying to find a way out of the hole he was rapidly digging.

“No I, I wanted to show you my soul mark but my hair is, uh, stuck. I need your help to get it off the uniform.”

Lance lifted his eyebrow and frowned but moved behind Keith to lift his hair. “Whatever man.”

Keith’s heart was beating far too fast to be healthy as he felt long fingers gently tugging and pulling his hair into a makeshift bun.

Lance had to see it. The 24 on the back of his neck. The nebula. The soul mark he’d neglected for as long as he could remember. The matching mark that linked them forever as soulmates.

Keith heard Lance gasp sharply as they both felt the mark seal and color itself on their skin. He felt a hot droplet hit his mark and the way Lance’s hands had started tremble. “Mullet” the red paladin managed in a watery voice as his fingers started to trace the mark. “What is this? Is this-?”

Keith swallowed nervously. “It is,” he said, “but I swear I didn’t know until I saw yours. I’ve never cared about it.. until now I mean.” The more Lance talked the less he could say in between muffled sobs. “Y-you mean you’re m-my, and, and I’m yours…”

Keith couldn’t stand it anymore and turned around pulling Lance tightly against him by his upper back and cradling his head against his shoulder. Lance collapsed into the hug, heart pounding rabbit-fast, crying openly and somehow laughing in between tears. “I thought I’d l-lost you.”

Keith caressed the tousled hair and rubbed Lance’s back. His voice was tight and choked with happiness. “Never.” I would never let you lose me, Lance.

They stayed wound around each other for a long while, Keith silent and thankful for the Christmas Eve luck. It really had been a good night. The best.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my [tumblr!](https://figandmelon.tumblr.com)


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